


The Road to Ilvermorny

by iam93percentstardust



Series: The Road to Ilvermorny [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen, Ilvermorny, Ilvermorny House - Thunderbird, Self-Insert, if you can consider a self-insert when you're still a very minor side character, little present, sort of, this was written for my friend's birthday
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-01
Updated: 2017-07-01
Packaged: 2018-11-21 22:24:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11366862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iam93percentstardust/pseuds/iam93percentstardust
Summary: Kiley Schwehm didn't know that there was magic in the world or that she could use it- until the day Professor Felicity Winters arrived at her door.





	The Road to Ilvermorny

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for my best friend's birthday! Happy birthday Kiley!

Like many bookish little girls, Kiley Schwehm read _Matilda_ and dreamed of being able to move chalk with just her mind. Unlike many bookish little girls, however, Kiley Schwehm focused her attentions on the chalkboard in her bedroom and was so startled when she made the chalk move that she lost her focus and the chalk fell to the ground where it broke in two.

Kiley, being far from an unintelligent girl, knew perfectly well that normal children were unable to perform such feats and she liked to feel normal. She assumed that she had imagined the chalk moving because she was feverish. She took her temperature, frowned when the thermometer told her that she was not sick, and then shoved the broken chalk under her bed, resolving to never speak of it.

Her resolve to never again use magic only lasted her a year though before she accidentally brought a dead flower back to life.

Scientifically minded as she was, she decided to experiment with her unusual gifts to see what she could and couldn’t control. There were some successes, like the time she mended her dog’s broken paw (confusing her parents to no end- “But I could have sworn it was nearly cut off!”) and the time she shrank a dreadful sweater she’d received from her grandmother for Christmas (“I’m sorry dear, I thought I got you the right size. You must have grown more than I expected.”). There were some failures, like the time she tried to heal a baby bird and only ended up further injuring it. She didn’t give up though. No self-respecting scientist would.

But by the time she was ten, Kiley was fully convinced that she had magic running through her veins.

She didn’t know what to do with this fact. Were there schools for people like her? Communities? What did young witches even do? Instead, she just assumed that it would be an odd quirk that she had like her love of adding sprinkles to her hot chocolate. It would be a cute little feature but ultimately useless. Then arrived Professor Felicity Winters.

As was tradition, Kiley’s entire family woke her on her eleventh birthday by flinging open the curtains and spraying water on her face. She woke sputtering, hearing her sisters yell “Happy birthday!” so loudly the rafters shook. Her parents had made her favorite breakfast, chocolate chip pancakes and bacon. She was just sitting down to eat when a knock came at the front door.

“I’ll get it!” Kiley offered, already out of her seat before anyone could stop her.

The door swung open to reveal an older woman, grey hair in a tight bun and spectacles perched upon her nose. Kiley’s eyes moved to her dress- no, that wasn’t quite the right word- robe, although she couldn’t imagine why the woman was wearing a blue and cranberry robe in the middle of July.

“Good morning,” she said cautiously.

“Good morning,” the woman returned. “Are you Kiley Schwehm?”

Kiley’s parents had warned her not to give out her name to strangers but this one already had her name so she saw no problem in saying, “Yes.” She paused. “Who are you?”

“Professor Felicity Winters.”

Mr. Schwehm worked at the university in town and so Kiley was used to other faculty members stopping by the house. “Are you here to see Dad?” she asked.

Professor Winters shook her head. “I’m here to see you.” Her eyes swept up and down Kiley as thought she could see straight into her soul. Kiley pulled her bathrobe tighter around her, suddenly cold.

“May I come in?” Professor Winters asked.

Kiley thought she should say no but she wanted to say yes. The matter was taken out of her hands though. She felt her mother’s presence behind her before she heard her mother say, “And who is this?”

“I’m Professor Winters. I represent a school in Massachusetts that’s interested in accepting Kiley for the fall semester.”

The two adults continued talking but Kiley was lost in thought. She had heard about boarding schools but she hadn’t thought that any existed in America. Maybe it was some special kind of magnet school or- her heart thrilled at the thought- maybe it had to do with her secret magical ability. She realized that her mother and the professor were looking at her now, waiting for her to say something.

“Kiley,” her mother said gently. “Professor Winters would like to tell you more about this school. Would you like to hear about it?”

Kiley nodded silently and stood aside to let Professor Winters in the house. Her mother made to follow the two of them into the living room but the professor waved her away.

“I’d like to speak to Kiley privately, if she’s alright with that.”

She was.

Professor Winters sat down on the couch, looking strangely formal amidst the tattered furniture. Kiley curled up into one of her parents’ armchairs. “As I said, I represent a school in Massachusetts. We’d like to accept you as a student.”

“What is it for?” Kiley asked.

Professor Winters looked slightly taken aback. “For?” she repeated.

She nodded. “Boarding schools are always for something.”

Understanding bloomed on the older woman’s face. “Ah, I see. Ilvermorny is a special school. As I understand it, you yourself are a special person, aren’t you?”

Kiley thought she knew what Professor Winters was talking about. She nodded, her eyes flickering to the TV, which without remote turned on.

Professor Winters followed her gaze. “Did you do that?” she asked quietly. Kiley nodded again. The TV, unprompted, turned back off. “I thought so,” Professor Winters continued. “Then it seems as though Ilvermorny is indeed the school for you. You see, Ilvermorny is a school for magic.”

Silence followed her words as Kiley absorbed what she’d said. She wasn’t crazy. She really could do magic. There were people like her, even people her own age. Those people wanted to teach her how to do magic.

She looked up at Professor Winters. “I want to go,” she said.

A smile graced the older woman’s face. “I thought you might.” She withdrew a letter from the inside of her robes. “This is for you,” she said, holding it out to Kiley.

Kiley took it and read.

 

_ILVERMORNY SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY_

_Headmaster: Felicity Winters_

_Dear Ms. Schwehm,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment._

_Term begins September 1 st. We await your acceptance by no later than July 31st._

_Sincerely,_

_Felicity Winters_

_Headmaster_

 

Questions exploded in Kiley’s mind. The first one was, “How am I supposed to send my acceptance?”

“You don’t need to worry about that. All No-Maj-born students receive a visit from a faculty member who will receive your acceptance or denial.”

Her statement brought on another question. “No-Maj-born?”

Professor Winters nodded. “In the wizarding community, we call non-magical people No-Majs.”

“Am I allowed to tell my parents about all of this?”

“Yes, I can’t imagine how you’d manage it without telling them.”

Kiley looked back down at the letter. “Where am I supposed to buy my school supplies?”

Thinking for a moment, Professor Winters replied, “Let’s see… This is Colorado Springs. There’s a magical community in Denver where you can purchase your supplies.”

“And how do I find it?” Kiley continued.

“Across from the Denver Art Museum, there’s a wizarding café called the Silver Elm. No-Majs can’t see it. If you go through the back door, you’ll arrive in Aeri Alley. You can purchase all of your supplies there. Your parents won’t be able to enter The Silver Elm, though. It’s spelled against No-Majs.”

“Will they take No-Maj money there?”

Professor Winters shook her head. “No, there’s a bank called Gringotts. You’ll have to exchange money. Do all of these questions mean that you have accepted our offer?”

“Yes.”

Professor Winters stood to leave.

“Wait!” Kiley said. “I have one last question. How do I get to Ilvermorny on September 1st?”

“At 4 p.m. on September 1st, go outside. There will be a frozen puddle on the ground. Step through it.”

With those unusual words, Professor Winters was gone.

Her parents came back into the room. From the looks on their faces, they’d heard every single word. Kiley had suspected as much. They wouldn’t have truly left her alone with a complete stranger.

“What do you think?” she asked, hoping for one answer and fearing for another.

“Well,” her mother said, glancing at her father. “You were always such an unusual child. At least, now we know why.” She smiled broadly. “Can you imagine it? A witch in the family.”

On the first day of August, the Schwehm family made a trip out to Denver. Kiley’s younger sisters were going to go with their parents to the art museum. Kiley was going to buy her school supplies. Not all of them, mind. She had taken one look at some of the objects on the supply list and promptly gone running to show her parents.

 

_ILVERMORNY SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY_

_Uniform:_

_First-year students will require:_

  1. _Three sets of plain work robes (blue with cranberry trim)_
  2. _One gold Gordian Knot_
  3. _One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)_
  4. _One winter cloak (blue with cranberry trim, gold fastenings)_



_Please note that all students’ clothes should carry nametags._

_Set Books_

_All students should have a copy of each of the following:_

Chadwick’s Charms Volume I. _by Chadwick Boot_

A History of Magic _by Bathilda Bagshot_

Magical Theory _by Adalbert Waffling_

A Beginner’s Guide to Transfiguration _by Emeric Switch_

One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi _by Phyllida Spore_

Magical Drafts and Potions _by Arsenius Jigger_

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them _by Newt Scamander_

The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection _by Quentin Trimble_

_Other Equipment_

_1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)_

_1 set glass or crystal phials_

_1 telescope_

_1 set brass scales_

_1 set of parchment_

_2 quills_

_4 ink bottles_

_Students may also bring a pet, if they choose._

Her parents had looked at the supply list and said, “Parchment? Quills? Ink? No. We will get you notebooks and pencils.” Her mother had also decided to sew her daughter’s robes instead of purchasing them, promising that they would be cheaper (and probably better made than anything they bought). She couldn’t sew the protective gloves though. She’d taken one look at the words “dragon hide” and almost fainted.

Just as Professor Winters had promised, the Silver Elm was right across the street from the art museum and neither her parents nor her sisters could see it.

The café was brightly lit and cheerful. There was a chalkboard advertising the food and drinks sold, although it was clearly magic as the words kept erasing themselves to be replaced with new specials and offers. A young woman with a wand stuck behind her ear was sitting in the corner of the café, scribbling away at a scrap of parchment with a pen. As Kiley watched, she finished what she was writing, placed it in an envelope, and handed the envelope to an owl who then soared through the back door with it clutched tightly in its beak.

Kiley’s jaw dropped. The woman looked up and saw Kiley staring. “No-Maj-born?” she called. Kiley nodded. The woman gracefully unfolded herself from her chair and made her way across the nearly empty café.

“First time to school?” she asked. Again, Kiley nodded. “And where will you be going?”

“Ilvermorny,” Kiley said. “Are there other wizarding schools in America?”

The woman nodded. “None so big as Ilvermorny though. They’re all regional.” She stuck out her hand. “Sylvie Aldaine.”

Kiley reached out to shake hands. “Kiley Schwehm.”

Sylvie smiled broadly. “Nice to meet you, Kiley.” She glanced towards the windows. “Is your family outside?”

“Yes, Professor Winters said they wouldn’t be able to come inside.”

Sylvie’s smile turned rueful. “We’ve had some bad experiences with No-Majs in the past. Best to just keep them out.” She offered her hand again. “But come on. I’ll show you around. Help you buy your things, how does that sound?”

“That would be great, thanks.”

Kiley had lots of questions to ask about the wizarding world and Sylvie was willing to answer them all. The young woman was a liaison, she explained, for No-Maj-born students. She was there to help them transition to life in the wizarding world. She fell silent though as they stepped through the back door and in to Aeri Alley.

All Kiley could say was “Wow” as she got her first real glimpse at the wizarding world. The sun shone brightly on a stack of cages outside the nearest shop. _Owls for Sale_ said the sign standing next to them.

“You’ll be wanting one of those,” Sylvie said. “But we’ve got to get your money first.”

Kiley kept spinning around, trying to taking in everything: the shops, the items for sale, the people. Two old wizards were loudly haggling over the price of some rare potions ingredients. Several small children were racing each other on miniature broomsticks. There were stores selling robes and telescopes and spindly instruments Kiley had never heard of. And then…

“Here we are,” Sylvie announced. “Gringotts.”

Kiley had been expecting something grand and marvelous for the wizarding bank but she was a tad disappointed to see that it just looked like a regular shop albeit a little larger.

Sylvie laughed. “It’s just a subsidiary. The original Gringotts in London is huge. Probably more like what you were expecting.”

They walked inside and Kiley’s jaw dropped again. “Are those really…?” Her voice trailed off as she studied the inhabitants of the bank.

“Yes,” Sylvie said, nodding. “Those are goblins. They’re really good with metals and gems so Gringotts hired them to work. They’ve got a magic all their own which makes them really good security. Here we go.” She led them to a goblin off to the side. “We need to exchange- how much money did you bring?”

“Oh, um…” Kiley brought out the money she’d brought and handed it to the goblin. He counted the bills faster than Kiley would have thought possible and handed her back a pile of gold and silver coins along with a drawstring bag. His black eyes watched closely as she swept the coins into the bag.

As they walked back out, Sylvie said, “The gold ones are dragots. The silver ones are sprinks. One sprink is a quarter of a dragot.”

Kiley was a bit dazed. The wizarding world was so much more vast than she could have imagined. The day passed in a blur. Sylvie was delighted to hear that Kiley’s parents had refused to purchase the parchment and quills, saying that she too thought the wizarding community needed to get with the times. The older witch was willing to answer any and all of Kiley’s questions about the wizarding world and Ilvermorny. Every new piece of information she learned made Kiley more convinced that she’d made the right choice.

The shops themselves were just as interesting. The bookstore was absolutely fascinating with books like _Important Magical Events of the 20 th Century_, _The Monster Book of Monsters_ , and _Magical Me_. Kiley purchased all of her schoolbooks but also a few extra books just to learn more about the wizarding world. She spent the longest time in the aviary where Sylvie offered to purchase her owl for her.

“You have to have an owl,” Sylvie said. “I know they say any pet but owls are so useful. They’ll carry mail and packages for you and besides, cats are far too stereotypical.”

So thirty minutes later, Kiley and Sylvie left the aviary with a brand new elf owl that she named Keebler. As the day came to a close, Kiley asked about the one thing that had been bothering her all day.

“What about a wand?” she said.

“Sorry?”

“I thought all witches and wizards used wands. You’ve got one,” she said gesturing to the wand still stuck behind Sylvie’s ear.

“Oh. Yes, I nearly forgot about that.” She started walking back toward Gringotts. “Come on, I’ll explain on the way.” Kiley hurried to catch up. “At Ilvermorny, you have the Sorting Ceremony first and then you’re led into a side room where you get your wand. Few centuries back, they had to make this law that stated that underage wizards weren’t allowed to have a wand until they came to school and then the wand had to be left at school during vacations. The law no longer exists but the tradition still stands.”

Kiley had one of the goblins change the wizarding currency back into No-Maj money and then, before she quite realized it, they were back in the Silver Elm.

Sylvie smiled. “I’m excited for you,” she told Kiley. “I remember my first day at Ilvermorny. It was amazing. You’re going to have such a good time.” Then she shooed Kiley out the door. “Good luck!” she called after her.

Kiley waved and then ran off to meet her family.

The rest of the summer passed quickly. As she had done for past summers, Kiley spent most of it reading. Her schoolbooks were intriguing and there was an entire other world that she needed to learn about. Every evening she took Keebler outside so he could spend the night catching prey and every morning she let him back in.

On September 1st, she had everything packed and ready to go- trunk with schoolbooks and clothes and her owl. She spent most of the day in the living room because she was too nervous to wait in her room. She kept glancing at the clock only to see that only fifteen minutes had passed since she last looked. Finally, the clock chimed four times.

She gave her parents a last hug and made her way with all of her luggage outside. Just as Professor Winters had said, there was a frozen puddle- highly unusual for a location that hadn’t seen rain in weeks and any temperatures below 45 degrees. She remembered what Professor Winters had said, to just walk through the puddle. She didn’t see how that was going to get her to school but she supposed she’d just have to go on faith.

Walking forward determinedly, she stepped onto the frozen puddle. Except it wasn’t onto- it was into. Her foot sank into the puddle, further than should have been possible. She lost her balance and, with a loud cry, fell face forward into the puddle, still clutching her luggage.

The world turned upside down. Everything spun. Kiley held her breath and screwed her eyes shut as an onslaught of nausea struck her. Slowly the spinning stopped. When the world had righted itself, Kiley waited another moment to open her eyes.

She stood in the shadow of a towering granite castle. Craning her head back as far as it could, she realized that she couldn’t even see the top of the castle. “Wow,” she whispered.

“Mercy Lewis,” a voice whispered, the same awe in her voice.

Kiley looked to her right to see another girl standing beside her. She had always thought of herself as being a little small for her age- both of her sisters had already surpassed her in height- but this girl could only be described as tiny.

The girl noticed that Kiley was looking at her and she smiled shyly. “Sorry,” she said. “It’s just that Mom never said it would be this big.”

“Do you come from a wizarding family then?”

The girl nodded. “For the most part. There’s some No-Majs here and there but mainly wizards. You?”

“I’m the first witch in my family,” Kiley said, suddenly worried that maybe people would think she was strange for coming from a No-Maj family. But the girl seemed to take it in stride.

“You get a lot of those here or so Mom says.” She looked back up at the castle. “I’m Alle by the way.”

“I’m Kiley.”

Kiley pulled her gaze away from the castle and looked around. She and Alle were only two in a crowd of over a hundred people. She frowned. All of these students looked to be about her age. Surely there were teenage witches and wizards going here too.

As though she were reading Kiley’s thoughts, Alle said, “The older students get here about thirty minutes before the first years. They’re supposed to be here in time for the Sorting Ceremony.”

The doors to the castle opened to reveal Professor Winters. “First years, this way,” she called, her voice magically echoing over the voices of the new students. “This way, please.”

Kiley and Alle were closest to the front doors and so they were at the front of the assembled crowd. Kiley’s eyes fell on the two larger-than-life marble statues standing on either side of the front door.

“Who are they?” she asked as they waited for the other first years.

“Isolt Sayre and James Stewart. They’re the founders of Ilvermorny,” Alle muttered back. She started to say more but Professor Winters began to speak.

“Welcome to Ilvermorny,” she said. “It is our fondest hope that you will come to regard Ilvermorny as a sort of second home where you will learn to control and wield your magic. The start-of-term feast will begin in a moment but first you must be sorted into your houses.

“While you are here, your fellow house members will be like your family. You will have classes with your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in the house common room. We have four houses representing four of the noble magical creatures that roam this land. They are Thunderbird, Pukwudgie, Wampus, and Horned Serpent. Each house has a magnificent history and have all produced excellent witches and wizards. I hope that each of you will be as much a credit to your house as those before you were.

“Are you ready?”

Silently, the group of first years nodded.

“Good. Follow me.”

As they shuffled their way into the castle, Kiley asked quietly, “I don’t get it. How are you sorted? I mean, what makes one house better for you than another?”

Alle whispered, “It’s said that the houses represent the parts of the body. Thunderbird, which prefers adventurers, represents the soul. Pukwudgie favors healers and represents the heart. Wampus prefers warriors and represents the body. Horned Serpent likes scholars and represents the mind.”

Kiley started to say that she didn’t think any of those really sounded like her but the words fell silent as she entered the castle for the first time. The doors opened onto a circular room with a glass cupola. A wooden balcony ran around the room one floor above where she now stood. The balcony was crowded with older students all watching eagerly with bright eyes.

Across the room, four enormous carvings took up a section of the wall representing the houses. From her readings, Kiley knew that the panther-like creature was the wampus and the humanoid figure was the pukwudgie.

The students filed in along the wall, leaving a large open space in the middle where a Gordian Knot- the same one gracing Kiley’s cloak- adorned the floor. Professor Winters moved into the open space.

“When I call your name, you will come forward to stand on the Gordian Knot to be sorted into your house. Once you have been sorted, please pass through the door behind me to receive your wand.”

She stepped off the Knot and unrolled a large scroll. “Anderson, Blake.”

A nervous-looking boy inched forward until he stood on the Knot. Almost immediately, the Pukwudgie raised its arrow. There was tumultuous applause from a group of students on the balcony. The boy looked relieved and hurried through the door Professor Winters had indicated earlier.

So it went on through the students until “Schwehm, Kiley.”

It didn’t register in Kiley’s mind at first that her name had been called. She was far too busy worrying about what might happen if none of the houses chose her. Then Alle pushed her forward. She looked back, eyes pleading. Her new friend gave her a reassuring smile and Kiley walked forward until she had taken her place on the Knot. A beat passed. Then another. Then a third.

Then the Thunderbird beat its wings.

Kylie grinned hugely as the Thunderbirds above her cheered. She walked to the door behind which waited her wand feeling much more excited. A Thunderbird. She liked the sound of that.

The wand room was much quieter than the sorting room. It was a very large, somewhat dim room filled with shelves that held boxes and boxes of wands, each one labeled with the wand’s specifications. One of the professors hurried over to her, smiling welcomingly.

“Welcome to Ilvermorny,” she greeted. “I’m Professor Rathburn.”

“Kiley Schwehm,” Kiley said. “I’m a new Thunderbird.”

Professor Rathburn laughed. “I was a Thunderbird when I was here.” She gestured at the wands. “Now there’s no need to worry. All you’re going to do is pick up the wands and try them until one has chosen you.” At the look on Kiley’s face, she added. “The wand chooses the wizard, as they say. You don’t need to be concerned about the time. Take as long as you need. I promise the feast will still be there waiting.”

The first wand Kiley tried was a yew wand with a thunderbird tail feather. She picked it up, not really expecting it to choose her. There were, after all, hundreds of wands in the room. The grip felt terribly wrong and she immediately put it back down.

The next wand- pine with the hair of a rougarou- also felt off and she placed that one down too. So the stack of wands grew. At one point, while she was trying a larch wand with a dragon heartstring core, she realized that Anderson, Blake, the first boy sorted, was still trying out wands and she felt a bit better about taking so long.

A few minutes later, she accidentally bumped into someone only to realize it was Alle.

“Not found your wand yet?” Alle asked in a low tone.

Kiley shook her head. “What was your house?”

Alle grinned. “Thunderbird, like you.”

Kiley was excited. At least, she already had one friend in her house even if they’d only known each other for an hour. The next wand Alle tried was a holly wand with a unicorn hair. She waved goodbye and watched as Alle ran back to Professor Rathburn to ask about what she should do now.

A strange noise filled her ears. It felt like something was beckoning her, calling to her. Kiley turned around and there it was. A wand lying in a box that just seemed to glow more brightly than any of the wands near it. Kiley read the box- beech with a unicorn hair core. Gingerly, she picked up the wand. Warmth spread from her fingertips throughout her body and sparks shot out from the tip of the wand.

“Professor Rathburn,” she called. “I’ve found my wand.”

A moment later, Professor Rathburn was beside her, studying her wand. “Well done, Miss Schwehm. If you’ll go through this door here, you can join the rest of your classmates in the Great Hall.”

Kiley hurried toward the Great Hall, feeling with each passing second that Professor Winters could be right. This could be home.


End file.
